Ruby smiles at Simone in approval. “Good one.”
“You look stunning, Freya,” Cali says brightly, bringing them back to the matter at hand. “Great outfit today and your makeup is perfect as always.”
“Remember that time I bumped into my ex in that bird sanctuary?” Ruby recalls, her eyes widening. “And I’d just cried because of that owl presentation, so my makeup was all over the place?”
“Oh my god, yes!” Cali exclaims. “That owl story was really moving. I’m so glad her wing healed and they were able to reintroduce her to the woodland.”
“Why were we in a bird sanctuary again?” Simone asks, frowning.
“We were in Suffolk for someone’s birthday,” I inform them, racking my memory. “It was a group of us from uni and we stayed in that cottage.”
“That was it!” Ruby nods. “And he was there with his nieceand his parents, who lived in Suffolk. What are the bloody chances?”
“Didn’t his niece pinch you?” Simone asks thoughtfully, as I reach for my wine.
“Yes,” Ruby confirms. “She tried to pinch my vagina.”
I burst out laughing and Cali spits her wine out everywhere, choking as it goes down the wrong way. Simone thumps her on the back.
“Why did she try to pinch your vagina?” Cali asks through splutters.
“She was very little and I think she was going through a pinching phase. It just so happened that her reach was toward my crotch area,” Ruby explains matter-of-factly as the rest of us cackle with laughter. “The moral of the story is, don’t wear mascara when visiting a bird sanctuary.”
“Hi.”
All of us snap our heads up at the sound of Matthew’s voice. He’s standing next to the table, his hands in his pockets, his eyebrows raised, like a teacher who’s just caught a group of naughty students chatting during detention.
In that split second, Simone’s expression has switched to rage, Ruby is glaring at him stony-faced, and Cali is looking at me in concern. My breath catches as I force myself to look him in the eye.
“Hi, Matthew,” I manage to say.
“I thought I’d do the mature thing and come over,” he informs us, glancing at Simone and Ruby nervously. “I saw you when I came in.”
I nod, not sure what to say to that.
“Are you enjoying your meal?” he asks, attempting joviality.
“We were,” Ruby says curtly.
He walked into that one.
“Okay. I see.” He purses his lips. “I was just trying to be civil. Guess I’ll leave you to it.”
“Probably best, Matthew,” Simone seethes.
“We’ll pretend we don’t know each other then,” he says to me, holding up his hands. “Very mature. Have a good night.”
He turns round and saunters back to his table, where his date is none the wiser, scrolling through her phone. The four of us remain silent for a while as we let what just happened sink in.
“Such an arsehole,” Simone comments eventually. “Are you all right, Freya?”
“Yeah. Course,” I say, my heart thudding against my chest. “But I think I’d like to not be here anymore.”
“Absolutely, let’s go,” Cali says, catching the eye of a passing waiter and gesturing for the bill.
“I’m so sorry to ruin your night,” I say quietly.
“You didn’t ruin anything, we’re finished anyway,” Ruby assures me.
